Andrea Horwath (; born October 24, 1962) is a Canadian politician who has been the 58th mayor of Hamilton since 2022. Horwath previously served as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for

Hamilton Centre Hamilton Centre (french: Hamilton-Centre) is a federal electoral district in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. History It was created in 2003 from parts of Hamilton East, Hamil ...

from 2004 to 2022, as leader of the

Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...

(NDP) from 2009 to 2022 and as the leader of the Official Opposition in Ontario from 2018 to 2022. She was the first woman to lead the Ontario New Democratic Party, and the third woman (after

Lyn McLeod Lyn McLeod (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader ...

and

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2003 and sat as the ...

) to serve as leader of a political party with representation in the Ontario provincial legislature, being elected as leader at the 2009 Ontario NDP leadership convention. During the 2018 provincial election, Horwath led the Ontario NDP to official opposition status after 23 years without government or official opposition status. The results of the 2022 provincial election, after which the Ontario NDP remained the official opposition, led to Horwath announcing her intention to resign as the leader of the Ontario NDP on the night of June 2, 2022. Her resignation took effect on June 28, 2022. On July 26, 2022, Horwath announced her candidacy for mayor of Hamilton, and resigned her seat in the provincial legislature on August 15, 2022. She was elected mayor on October 24, 2022, and was inaugurated on November 16.

Early life, education, early career

Horwath was born and raised in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, and has a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Labour Studies Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

. She worked part-time as a waitress to pay her way through university. Her father Andrew, an ethnic Hungarian, had immigrated to Canada from

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, and worked on the assembly line at the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

plant in

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

. Her mother, Diane, is of French and Irish descent. She lives in Hamilton with her son Julian (born November 1992). In a March 2011 interview with the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', she spoke publicly for the first time about the breakup of her longtime relationship with Julian's father, Hamilton businessman Ben Leonetti. Horwath had met Ben Leonetti in her university years, when she was working part-time as a waitress and he was a jazz musician. The two lived together for 25 years without getting married and split up in 2010.

Early political career

In the Canadian federal election of 1997, she was the NDP candidate against incumbent

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Stan Keyes in the riding of Hamilton West. Although unsuccessful, her second-place finish was a significant improvement on previous NDP efforts in the riding, and gave her an increased level of prominence in the city.

City councillor

Later in 1997, she was elected to

Hamilton City Council Hamilton City Council is the governing body of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Since 21 November 1960, Council has met at Hamilton City Hall at 71 Main Street West. The current council consists of the mayor In many countries, a mayor i ...

for Ward Two, outpolling two

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

s who had represented the area for more than 20 years. She emerged as a prominent voice for the political left in the city, and was re-elected to council in 2000 and 2003. During her three terms as city councillor, she chaired the solid-waste-management committee and the municipal non-profit housing corporation.

Provincial politics

By-election victory

Horwath was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a 2004 by-election in the then-extant provincial riding of Hamilton East, defeating

candidate Ralph Agostino to succeed the deceased Liberal member

Dominic Agostino Dominic Agostino (October 14, 1959 – March 24, 2004) was a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Hamilton East for the Liberal Party in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 until his death in 2004. Background Born in Si ...

, Ralph's brother. Winning 63.6 per cent of the vote, up from the NDP's 29.4 per cent in that riding six months earlier, her landslide victory boosted the NDP's seat count over the threshold for

official party status Official party status refers to the Westminster practice which is officially used in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures of recognizing parliamentary caucuses of political parties. In official documents, this is sometimes re ...

in the legislature, and helped give the federal

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

a bounce in Hamilton that would continue into the federal election shortly thereafter.

2007 election

In the 2007 election, Horwath ran in the new riding of

, due to

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

that divided her former Hamilton East riding between Hamilton Centre and the new riding of

Hamilton East—Stoney Creek Hamilton East—Stoney Creek (french: Hamilton-Est—Stoney Creek) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. The riding was formed in 2003 from parts of the fo ...

. Horwath's new Hamilton Centre riding included approximately half of her former riding as well as a portion of the former Hamilton West riding where she had run federally in 1997. It also included her entire former city council ward. In the lead up to the campaign, Horwath was expected to face Hamilton West Liberal incumbent Judy Marsales. However, Marsales opted not to run for another term, and Horwath easily defeated Liberal candidate Steve Ruddick on election day.

2009 NDP leadership campaign

On November 7, 2008, Horwath officially launched her campaign to win the party's leadership. The

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

was held March 6–8, 2009. Horwath led on the first two ballots, and won on the third ballot with 60.4% of the vote defeating

Peter Tabuns Peter Charles Tabuns (born October 3, 1951) is a Canadian politician who has served as the interim leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party and the leader of the Opposition since June 28, 2022. He is a member of the Legislative Assembly of O ...

Gilles Bisson Gilles C. Bisson (born May 14, 1957) is a Franco-Ontarian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 until his defeat in the 2022 Ontario general election. From 1999 to 2022 ...

and Michael Prue.

2011 election

The 2011 provincial election saw a rise in support for the NDP under Horwath's leadership. The party won more than 20% of the popular vote for the first time since 1995 and almost doubled its seats to elect 17 members of the legislature. The election also resulted in the Liberal government of

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nea ...

being reduced to a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

with the NDP holding the balance of power. In April 2012, Horwath passed a

leadership review In Canadian politics, a leadership review is a vote held at a political party convention in which delegates decide whether to endorse the incumbent party leader or schedule a leadership convention to elect a new leader. In most parties at present, ...

at the party's convention with 76% support.

2014 election

In the 2014 provincial election, the NDP was able to maintain its seat count of 21 at dissolution despite the loss of three seats in Toronto, but lost the balance of power when the Liberals took a majority win in the election. Horwath has faced criticism from some party members and progressives for running a

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

campaign which they described as right-wing. Despite criticism of her leadership from some quarters, Horwath received a slightly increased level of support, 77%, at the party's post-election convention held on November 15.

2018 election

Horwath ran in her third election as NDP leader against the Liberal government led by

and a Progressive Conservative Party led by

Doug Ford Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario since June 2018 and leader of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party since March 2018. He ...

. Horwath promised to introduce "Canada's first universal Pharmacare plan", highlighted by a universal

dental plan Dental insurance is a form of health insurance designed to pay a portion of the costs associated with dental care. There are several different types of individual, family, or group dental insurance plans grouped into three primary categories: In ...

and a prescription drug plan that "will initially cover 125 of the most commonly prescribed drugs". She also promised a

child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

plan in which seventy per cent of Ontario parents "would either have free child care or pay an average of $12 a day in a licensed not-for-profit daycare". Horwath promised to return

Hydro One Hydro One Limited is an electricity transmission and distribution utility serving the Canadian province of Ontario. Hydro One traces its history to the early 20th century and the establishment of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario ( ...

to public ownership by buying back privately held shares. She also said that she would close the

Pickering Nuclear Generating Station Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is a Canadian nuclear power station located on the north shore of Lake Ontario in Pickering, Ontario. It is one of the oldest nuclear power stations in the world and Canada's third-largest, consisting of eigh ...

immediately, while the other party leaders have pledged to keep it open until 2024. The NDP promised to increase corporate tax rates from 11.5 to 12.5 per cent, as well as introducing an income tax increase for those earning over $220,000 per year. Horwath said the province would fund half of the operating cost of municipal transit and indicated that she would not introduce back-to-work legislation. The party's support in

public opinion polls An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

increased in May 2018, leading to greater media attention and greater scrutiny. With her party gaining official opposition status, she became the Leader of the Official Opposition during the 42nd Parliament, the second highest number of seats in the party's history. The NDP took all of old Toronto (i.e., what was the city of Toronto before the 1999 creation of the "megacity" of Toronto), as well as all but one seat in Hamilton and all but one seat in Niagara.

2022 election

Horwath and the NDP released their 2022 platform in April 2022. Horwath was re-elected in Hamilton Centre, but the NDP lost 7 seats. Horwath resigned as leader election night.

Return to municipal politics

Horwath ran as a candidate for the position of

Mayor of Hamilton, Ontario The mayor of Hamilton is head of Hamilton City Council. The current mayor is Andrea Horwath. The following is a list of mayors of Hamilton: * Colin Campbell Ferrie - 1847 *George Sylvester Tiffany - 1848 * William L. Distin - 1849 *John Fishe ...

in the October 2022 Hamilton, Ontario municipal election. She was elected on October 24, 2022. Horwath is the first woman to be elected mayor in Hamilton's history.

Mayor of Hamilton

Horwath took office as mayor on November 15, 2022, becoming the first woman to serve as mayor of the city of Hamilton. Prior to amalgamation the suburbs of Stoney Creek and Ancaster each had had women mayors. The first regional chair for the Region of Hamilton-Wentworth was also a woman.

Awards

In March 2012, Horwath received the EVE award which is sponsored by

Equal Voice Founded in 2001 by Rosemary Speirs, Donna Dasko, Libby Burnham and Christina McCall. Equal Voice is a national, bilingual, multi-partisan, non-governmental, non-profit organization that promotes the election of more women to all levels of Canad ...

, a non-profit organization focused on promoting women in politics. Past recipients have included women from every level of government.

Electoral record

Provincial

Municipal

, - !rowspan="2" colspan="2", Candidate !colspan="3", Popular vote !rowspan="2" colspan="2", Expenditures , - ! Votes ! % ! ±% , - , style="background-color:#4714a0 , , style="text-align:left;" , Andrea Horwath , style="text-align:centre;" , 59,216 , style="text-align:centre;" , 41.68 , style="text-align:centre;" , , style="text-align:centre;" , , - , style="background-color:#a1df02 , , style="text-align:left;" , Keanin Loomis , style="text-align:centre;" , 57,553 , style="text-align:centre;" , 40.41 , style="text-align:centre;" , , style="text-align:centre;" , , - , style="background-color:#f8db62 , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Bob Bratina Robert Bratina (born 1944) is a Canadian politician and former broadcaster who was the 56th mayor of Hamilton from 2010 to 2014. Previously, he sat on the Hamilton City Council from 2004 until 2010. He went on to be the Liberal member of Par ...

, style="text-align:centre;" , 17,436 , style="text-align:centre;" , 12.27 , style="text-align:centre;" , , style="text-align:centre;" , , - , style="background-color:#D88110 , , style="text-align:left;" , Ejaz Butt , style="text-align:centre;" , 1,907 , style="text-align:centre;" , 1.34 , style="text-align:centre;" , , style="text-align:centre;" , , - , style="background-color:#FFFFFF , , style="text-align:left;" , Solomon Ikhuiwu , style="text-align:centre;" , 1,867 , style="text-align:centre;" , 1.31 , style="text-align:centre;" , , style="text-align:centre;" , , - , style="background-color:#FFFFFF , , style="text-align:left;" , Jim Davis , style="text-align:centre;" , 1,433 , style="text-align:centre;" , 1.01 , style="text-align:centre;" , , style="text-align:centre;" , , - , style="background-color:#FFFFFF , , style="text-align:left;" , Michael Pattison , style="text-align:centre;" , 1,422 , style="text-align:centre;" , 1.00 , style="text-align:centre;" , , style="text-align:centre;" , , - , style="background-color:#FFFFFF , , style="text-align:left;" , Paul Fromm , style="text-align:centre;" , 898 , style="text-align:centre;" , 0.63 , style="text-align:centre;" , , style="text-align:centre;" , , - , style="background-color:#FFFFFF , , style="text-align:left;" , Hermiz Ishaya , style="text-align:centre;" , 326 , style="text-align:centre;" , 0.23 , style="text-align:centre;" , , style="text-align:centre;" , , - , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="2" , Total votes , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , , style="text-align:right;background-color:#c2c2c2;" colspan="3" , , - , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" colspan="2" , Registered voters , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , , style="text-align:right;background-color:#FFFFFF;" , , style="text-align:right;background-color:#c2c2c2;" , , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="6" , Note: All Hamilton Municipal Elections are officially non-partisan.
Note: Candidate campaign colours are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.)
and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates. , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="13" , Sources:''
City of Hamilton, "Nominated Candidates"

Federal

References

Notes:

External links

Andrea Horwath
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horwath, Andrea 1962 births Canadian people of Hungarian descent Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian abortion-rights activists Women municipal councillors in Canada Canadian community activists Female Canadian political party leaders Mayors of Hamilton, Ontario Leaders of the Ontario New Democratic Party Living people McMaster University alumni Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs Women MPPs in Ontario Franco-Ontarian people Women mayors of places in Ontario 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians